Mary Lou Kaney, center, speaks to high school students and their parents in the nursing skills lab during a tour of the new St. Ambrose University Center for Health Sciences. (Kevin E. Schmidt/Quad-City Times)

Health Sciences Building to open

ST. AMBROSE UNIVERSITY

Mary Lou Kaney, center, speaks to high school students and their parents in the nursing skills lab during a tour of the new St. Ambrose University Center for Health Sciences. (Kevin E. Schmidt/Quad-City Times)

The new St. Ambrose University Center for Health Sciences Education at the corner of Marquette and Lombard streets in Davenport.

Students enrolled in St. Ambrose University’s physical therapy,
occupational therapy and nursing programs have a new, $11.5
million, state-of-the-art facility to learn in when classes begin
next week.

The 40,000-square-foot Health Sciences Building offers
laboratories where students can gain practical experience.

For example, one laboratory replicates a 12-bed hospital ward,
complete with the wall boards behind the beds where oxygen and
other health-care equipment is mounted. State-of-the-art mannequins
are programmed to mimic a variety of health conditions, from high
blood pressure to cardiac arrest.

Another laboratory functions as an apartment, so occupational
therapy students can practice home-health-care techniques. Other
laboratories are set up as physical therapy gyms or places where
occupational therapists can fashion switches for electronic devices
that help the disabled live more independently.

“What’s really nice is to be in a space that has been designed
for the purpose of the programs,” said Sandy Cassady, associate
dean of the College of Education and Health Sciences. “And with all
of these programs under one roof, our students will have a better
feel for the other professions that they will be working with in
the field, and that translates into better outcomes for
patients.”

Previously, the health science programs were scattered
throughout the campus. Occupational therapy and physical therapy
were located in Hayes Hall, which previously had been used as a
residence hall.

“We’re all in shock about how nice this building is,” said
Danielle Dunnwald, a student from Waterloo, Iowa, who is working on
her master’s degree in occupational therapy. “It’s so much better
than what we had. We used to have to make things up; we’d use a
chair and pretend it’s a bathtub.

“This building will prepare us so much more for our actual tasks
out in the field.”

Making the building a reality was a joint effort between the
university and Genesis Health System. Genesis donated almost $3
million toward the building’s construction and also donated the
land, valued at $750,000, which is located on the hospital’s west
campus at Marquette and Lombard streets in Davenport.

“Students will be able to move seamlessly from the classroom to
Genesis Medical Center and work with mentors to gain the experience
that will benefit our patients today and tomorrow,” said Doug
Cropper, president and chief executive officer of Genesis Health
System. “And, our current employees who wish to advance their
educations will have easy access to classes while maintaining their
work schedules at Genesis.”

Demand for health sciences graduates is very high. According to
an article published in the January 2010 edition of the Journal of
Advanced Nursing, it is estimated that the number of nurses leaving
the profession will exceed the number of new nurses sometime next
year, and the shortage of nurses will number 340,000 in the United
States by the year 2020.

According to a December 2009 analysis by the U.S. Department of
Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 581,500 new nursing
positions will be created through 2018, increasing the size of that
work force by 22 percent. Employment opportunities are expected to
grow much faster than those of other professions, the analysis
concluded.

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The bureau also estimated that the employment of occupational
therapists will increase 27 percent or more between 2004 and
2014.

“Our partnership with St. Ambrose University represents a wise
investment that will ensure a reliable supply of well-trained,
compassionate health care professionals to serve future generations
of Quad-Citians,” Cropper said. “Through this partnership, St.
Ambrose and Genesis will prepare the region’s future health care
professionals in a setting where the students will have access to
the latest techniques and ideas in both classroom and clinical
education.”

Across the river at the Trinity College of Nursing and Health
Sciences in Rock Island, Susan Wajert recently took over as
chancellor. She hopes to gradually double the number of graduates
there in coming years.

“A big part of health care reform is work force development,”
Cassady said.